Budget? What budget?

Saturday, July 13, 2013

So. This week, especially yesterday, has proven to be utter crap. I've had a few good moments (ordering DDP a couple of days ago) but today proved to be the final, crappy capstone to an otherwise adequate week.

My refrigerator died this morning.

Now, we are poor people, as my regular readers may know. I don't have the money to be buying appliances. How poor? Well, the fridge that broke? I was *7* when it was purchased by my mom, brand new.

It had stuff growing in the seams, dry rot in the doors. Bad enough dry rot that I actually managed to break a shelf and you could see the insulation. It was icing up in the back, and had been for a couple of years. Every month or so I had to vacuum the unidentifiable fluid out of the bottom.

Really, the thing should have been replaced years ago, but it was working, so we kept limping it through.

27 years old, that Kenmore was.

This morning though, after keeping things ice-cold right up until its last moments, it gave up the ghost. I can still hear it running and buzzing, but the compressor's gone.

So, I had to start looking.

Fortunately, I found a great deal on Craigslist; I go tomorrow to see if I can fit it in my house. $275 for one of those bottom-freezer Maytags with the double doors.

The thing that sucks is that this blows my budget, completely. We've already been on a really tight budget as it is, but this is really going to hurt. Having to replace more than half of our food supply? That hurts a lot.

I'm stressed out, as a result, and can't sleep. That's why I'm posting a 1 AM blog. I have been tossing and turning and fretting. And today I've eaten absolutely terribly. Went to make breakfast, found all the meat thawed, and nothing I'd risk eating at that moment. So we went to Waffle House.

For dinner, after 3 hours of driving in an un-airconditioned car looking at cheap refrigerators (I still can't get the spoiled pickle smell of one of them out of my nose) with two whiny kids, a raging headache, and a belly full of stress and NO food in the fridge (I took what was salvageable over to the neighbors' houses.) meant pizza for dinner.

What really sucks? I really, really want a soothing glass of milk. But I can't have it, because it's across the street.

Tomorrow's going to be just as stressful. Moving in the new fridge (Whichever one I end up getting.) A birthday party with the girls. A social outing with another couple (playing Magic: the Gathering.) Packing for the girls' trip to my aunt's on Sunday. Somewhere in there I have to figure out when to do laundry, because the kids have no clean clothes to take on their trip. Did I mention I have to go to the laundromat for that?

So I'm tired. I'm stressed. On top of all of that, I'm bloated from a day of eating like crap.

And I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

The one golden nugget for tomorrow, though? I get to have a MAJOR fridge upgrade (seriously, this thing's about a million times nicer than the one I have. I need to take before/after pictures.)

1SALMON1
oh I remember I remember. These days there's a little wiggle room in our finances but for decades there was NONE, and every setback (like a dead fridge, or heck like when the kid lost her shoes at the park) had a domino effect that wrecked all my carefully laid plans. My heart goes out to you....1679 days ago

ANARIE
The other bright side is that you might see a noticeable drop in your electric bill. That old fridge with the dry rot couldn't have had a good seal, so it had to run more to keep stuff cold, and that in turn was pumping heat into the house that was making you run the AC a bit more. I think I remember reading that the fridge tends to be the second biggest energy-consumer in the house after AC, so eventually this thing is going to pay for itself. It sucks that it happened at such a bad time, but it's sort of a forced investment.1680 days ago

FUNLOVEN
I can feel you stress and frustration right through the computer !

When I feel things like this piling up for me I mentally jerk myself by the arm and give myself a pep talk like "O.K. now. Slow down and take a deep breath. Close your eyes a minute and calm your inner self. Now what is the one top priority thing you HAVE to do? O.K. so start there. Go now and get started." And then that is exactly what I do. One chore at a time.

Can you try this? As many times as you need to, over and over again, throughout your day 1680 days ago

1STATEOFDENIAL
I'm sorry to hear about this! When it rains, it pours, huh? Would it be possible to ask the neighbors to help get the fridge inside? If you can get a few guys to take it inside, then that'll save you time fighting with it so maybe you can run to the laundromat. Is it possible to leave the kids at the party and you leave to do other things and have a scheduled time to pick them up? Is the aunt coming to pick them up? If not, is that possible? That could save you some time and trouble. Maybe you could even ask your aunt (if this is possible for her, that is) to do you a huge favor - send the dirty clothes with the kids if she can wash them before they wear them. Explain to her what's happened and that you can't possibly get it done, and ask if she'd be willing to help out.

I'm sending good thoughts your way in hopes that you get the fridge you want and that it's in excellent shape - worth every penny!1680 days ago